Getting Started on Hammered Dulcimer

Here are a few suggestions based on my own experience with getting started on hammered dulcimer. Of course you'll want to do your own research, and there is plenty of information available elsewhere on the web (there are some links at the bottom of this page that you may want to check out). But basically all you need is a hammered dulcimer (including a set of hammers and a tuning wrench -- these are usually provided with the instrument), an electronic tuner, a stand to hold the instrument while you play, and some instruction books or videos.

Hammered Dulcimers These come in different sizes. The basic (smallest) size is a 12/11, which means that there are 12 pairs of strings passing over the treble bridge and 11 pairs of strings passing over the bass bridge. This will be plenty to get you started and will be the most portable and least expensive. If you already play another musical instrument you may want to start with a 15/14 or a 16/15. If you find that you really love playing the hammered dulcimer, you will most likely upgrade to these bigger sizes at some point.

Most hammered dulcimers have a "stacked diatonic" tuning arrangement, which means that you'll have the notes from the major scale (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do) from each of several keys, depending on the size of the instrument. Some hammered dulcimers are known as "chromatic", which means that small satellite bridges have been added here and there to provide extra notes that would otherwise be missing. The chromatic dulcimers are usually at the high end of the price range.

Another important difference in hammered dulcimers is the amount of sustain. The Master Works hammered dulcimers have a relatively long sustain, which is great for full-sounding slow-to-medium tempo pieces (e.g., new age, classical, Celtic). Folks who like to play very fast or with a band (contra dance music) tend to prefer instruments with less sustain. Some hammered dulcimer builders deliberately strive for very short sustain for this reason. For me, I find that I prefer the warm rich tone (lots of sustain) of my MasterWorks 15/14.

Two of the bigger hammered dulcimer manufacturers are MasterWorks and Dusty Strings. Other notable makers include James Jones, Robert Tack, Lee Spears, Jerry Hudson, Jerry Read Smith, and others. Here is some selected contact info:

Click here for a more exhaustive list of builders: http://www.rtpnet.org/~hdweb/buying/builders/builders.html

Also check with Glenn Morgan:

Glenn Morgan (Master Works, Dusty Strings, James Jones, and more)
20134 Phoenix Lake Road
Sonora, CA 95370
(209) 694-8034
fishbitemorg@earthlink.net

Glenn and Alison Morgan are very knowledgeable and quite friendly -- Glenn will even play different instruments for you over the phone so you can get an idea (at least) of how they differ in sound.

This is only a partial list of hammered dulcimer builders. Other folks have put together additional web info, so you may want to check out the Official Hammer Dulcimer Web Site - Buying Dulcimers or the Kitchen Musician's Dulcimer and Folk Stores and Sources, which lists a large number of stores that sell hammered dulcimers or related stuff such as music books or recordings.

Hammers Many hammered dulcimer players try a lot of different types of hammers and end up owning a bunch of 'em. I use hammers made by Bob Bedard... he is great to work with and has something for everyone: Bedard Hammers

Electronic Tuners You will definitely need to have an electronic tuner in order to keep all those strings in tune. Make sure it is a chromatic tuner. The one I have is a Korg CA-30, which works well and is reasonably priced. You can buy tuners from Elderly Instruments and possibly your local music store. My Master Works 16/15c holds its tuning pretty well so I really only have to tune once every couple of weeks (except in the summer when the house humidity and temperature are fluctuating a lot).

Stands You will eventually need a stand. There are several types available, including some designed for playing while sitting down, some for playing while standing up, and others that are fully adjustable for either sitting or standing. You can get these from Wood 'N Strings.

Instruction Books and Videotapes I bought John McCutcheon's hammered dulcimer instruction videotape and it really helped me get a feel for how the instrument is tuned and played. He also teaches some nice tunes. You can buy instruction videotapes from Elderly Instruments or Homespun Tapes. There is a lot of instructional information available for hammered dulcimer. I discuss this in a little more detail at my Instruction Books and Videos site.

Hammered Dulcimer CDs You may want to get some hammered dulcimer CDs for inspiration and to get a feel for what sounds you can or should be making. I talk a bit about recordings at my Hammered Dulcimer CDs site.

Other Web Info about Getting Started

Buying a Hammered Dulcimer Advice from Sarah Johnson ("The Kitchen Musician").

Boston Area Hammer Dulcimer FAQ More advice on getting started from the great northeast.

Griffin Music Hammered Dulcimers - Dulcimer Purchase Guide These folks don't sell hammered dulcimers anymore, but their web site has a lot of good information.

Griffin Music Hammer Dulcimers - Frequently Asked Questions Good background info.

Other Hammered Dulcimer Info on the Web This is a collection of hammered dulcimer links that I pulled together -- mostly just pointing to link pages put together by other folks.

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